This book engages with some of the most pressing arguments shaping science fiction studies as we move deeper into an often-turbulent new millennium. Consisting of four distinct sections containing eleven original essays by some of the leading experts in SF studies, Reality Unbound grapples with a diffuse, yet interrelated cluster of topics. Moreover, it does so by essaying prominent themes from early cinematic iterations of the genre, through arthouse films of the 1960s, to Hollywood blockbusters of the present day. Charting SF cinema’s response to seismic historical events, as well as social and political trends, this collection tackles key SF concerns such as responses to governmental repression, the possibilities and wonder of outer space, the future of the human race and the double-edged ramifications of technological advancement. At times aiming to test the parameters of genre itself, Reality Unbound is furthermore concerned with issues such as SF’s relationship to architecture, the importance of sound in its conception, the role it can play as an audiovisual archive and its potential as a source of counterfactual history.The contributors: Marc Bonner, Delia González de Reufels, Rasmus Greiner, Karin Harrasser, Winfried Pauleit, Aidan Power, David Seed, Vivian Sobchack, Rüdiger Zill, Sherryl Vint, Brian Willems.

Leseproben

The Editors

Aidan Power is an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Cork, Ireland. His research interests include science fiction, modern and postmodern cinema, mobility and identity politics in cinema and transnational film production. His most recent publications include »Trees Felled in the Wilderness: Michael Haneke, John Ford and the Final Frontier« (2016); »Awakening from the European Dream: Eurimages and the Funding of Dystopia« (2015); »Panic on the Streets of London: Tourism and British Dystopian Cinema« (2014) and the co-edited collection »Die Zukunft ist jetzt: Science-Fiction-Kino als audio-visueller Entwurf von Geschichte(n), Räumen und Klängen« (2016). He previously worked as a research fellow at Universität Bremen.

Delia González de Reufels is a professor of Latin American History at Universität Bremen. She is currently writing an article on historic memory and film in the Cono Sur. Her other research interests include Latin American population history and the history of the welfare state in Latin America, Latin American military history and the history of migration in the 19th and 20th century. Regions of interest are Mexico, Chile and Haiti. Her recent publications include »Dieses heroische Volk verdient unsere Liebe: Deutungen der demografischen Entwicklung Haitis und die Anfänge der haitianischen Familienplanung in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts« (2015); »Bildmigration und Geschichte: Das Ende der chilenischen Militärdiktatur in Pablo Larraíns Spielfilm NO!« (2015); and the co-edited volumes »Film and History: Producing and Experiencing History in Moving Images and Sound« (2015) and »Expert Knowledge in Latin American History: Local, Transnational, and Global Perspectives« (2014).

Rasmus Greiner is a assistant professor in Film Studies and Latin American History at Universität Bremen. He is also managing editor of the e-journal www.nachdemfilm.de. He was awarded a doctoral degree with a thesis on asymmetrical military conflicts in feature films since the late 90s. His research interests include the cinematic production of history; war and the audiovisual media; and audio history. His publications include »Sonic Icons and Histospheres: On the Political Aesthetics of an Audio History of Film« (with Winfried Pauleit); »Die neuen Kriege im Film. Jugoslawien  Zentralafrika  Irak Afghanistan« (2012) and the co-edited collection »Film and History: Producing and Experiencing History in Moving Images and Sound« (2015).

Winfried Pauleit is Professor and head of the ZeMKI research Lab "Film, Media Art and Popular Culture" at University Bremen. He is academic director of the annual International Bremen Film Conference and co-editor of: "Reality Unbound. New Departures in Science Fiction Cinema" (2017), "Film and History: Producing and Experiencing History in Moving Images and Sound" (2015). Other publications include: "Audio History des Films. Sonic Icons, Auditive Histosphäre, Authentizitätsgefühl" (2018), "Reading Film Stills: Analyzing Film and Media Culture" (2015).